Modoc Boys Second at State Track Meet with Three School Records, 4x200 Victorious

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:45:30 GMT

By Larry Breen

Angela Nunley
Fred Taylor, Garrett Nunley, Daxton Swanson, and Melvin Allen show their 800 relay hardware.

The Connally girls may have stolen the local thunder by sharing the 3A girls state track and field title, but the La Vega boys brought plenty of their own thunder by riding the relays and two individual efforts to a runnerup trophy in the boys' half. It all came down to the final event, the 4x400 relay, third-fastest time coming in but finished two seconds slower than best time, arguably the Pirates' best bet for points, and LV did have the lead briefly on the fourth leg, but the anchor runner accidentally stepped on the inside curb, lost momentum, and could not catch the top two runners, so he eased in for a 3:23.85 eighth place. However, the "bonus" second place by surprise 200-meter qualifier Fred Taylor put the Modocs in position for any chance at a championship after he finished a non-qualifying third in regionals but was entered at state when a Connally runner scratched last week. Taylor brought home the silver in a school-record 21.58 and had already broken the school record of 21.89 at the McGregor regional qualifiers meet with a 21.78. Not to be overlooked was Taylor's anchoring the LV 800-meter relay with Melvin Allen, Daxton Swanson, and Garrett Nunley to a win in 1:26.9, ahead of regional and state team champion West Orange-Stark, and another school record, beating the old mark of 1:27.33 set in 2005, and avenging a loss to the Mustangs at regionals. The same quartet also finished second to WOS in the 400 relay in 41.84, the group's fastest all year, while Mathew Nesbitt was seventh in the 400 in 49.23, his best time all year by six tenths and another school mark, beating the old mark of 49.24 by Craig Watson in 2005. "Everything happened the way we wanted to despite the mile relay, which was our strongest this year. Fred moved up from the eighth fastest time to a second place in the 200 for eight points that gave us the opportunity to win the team title," head coach Steven Oliver said. "Since the relays count double, we needed to finish first or second there to win the team championship, and we tried our hardest, but it just didn't work out. "I'll still take my four guys over any relay in the state, but we just weren't at our best in that particular race--it wasn't in the cards. Overall, it was the most successful track team in LV history with a second-place finish. We had never won a district or regional title until last year, and I assume it's the best we've ever finished at state."

Pete's Pride

Modoc Boys Second at State Track Meet with Three School Records, 4x200 Victorious